Case Study | Mahmud Ahsan/Arabic Dictionary

GOOGLE ADMOB HELPS INDIE APP DEVELOPER TRANSLATE FREE DOWNLOADS INTO REVENUE

Since starting his app business in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2010, AT A GLANCE Mahmud Ahsan has become a leading creator of educational and entertainment apps for Apple iOS devices, with six million downloads to date. His most popular app is Arabic Dictionary. About Mahmud Ahsan For Mahmud, high downloads didn’t automatically translate to high • Originally based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, now in Malaysia revenue. Users loved the free apps, but few were paying for upgraded • A leading publisher of educational and versions. To monetize his products, Mahmud turned to in-app entertainment apps advertising, and specifically the AdMob platform. AdMob“ is definitely • Over 14 million ad impressions served key to success in the mobile market,” he says. “Compared with per month competitors, it offers a higher cost per thousand impressions (CPM) Goals and a better fill rate, and it only displays ‘appropriate’ ads.” • Monetize free users effectively • Ensure in-app advertising is ethically sound

• Invest increased revenue in expanded app “If we didn’t use AdMob, our offering generated revenue would drop by Approach 30–40% as AdMob’s competitors • Implement AdMob Mediation can’t offer the same kind of fill rate.” • Deploy full-screen interstitial format Mahmud Ahsan, • Opt into ad network optimization and Live independent app developer CPM within AdMob Mediation

Results With advertising so central to his business model, Mahmud was always • 60% of revenue now comes from AdMob looking for ways to maximize revenue. So when AdMob Mediation • +30–35% revenue with AdMob Mediation launched in 2011, he adopted it immediately. This platform enabled • Interstitials deliver 5x CTR and 10x RPM compared with banners Mahmud to serve ads from multiple sources, prioritizing the one with • +20–30% revenue with ad network the highest effective CPM, andrevenue was soon 30–35% higher optimization than with the AdMob network alone. In November 2013, he also introduced full-screen interstitial ads to all his free apps. To maintain a high-quality user experience, these typically appear once only, when the app opens. Implementation could not have been easier – downloading the code and incorporating it into his first app took just 20 minutes – butthe effect has been huge. Click-through rate (CTR) is over five times higher compared with banner ads, and CPM is typically 10 times higher. Case Study | Mahmud Ahsan/Arabic Dictionary

And in 2014, when the mediation platform was expanded with ad ABOUT ADMOB network optimization and Live CPM, giving publishers real-time access to all ’s demand sources, Mahmud saw a further jump of 20–30%. Overall, revenue has doubled with the adoption of AdMob is the leading mobile advertising interstitials and mediation features. platform, trusted by more than 650,000 apps worldwide. Since 2006, AdMob has Today, AdMob generates 60% of Mahmud’s total advertising helped developers to grow successful revenue. These profits mean he can invest in enhancing his iOS app businesses with rich ad formats, ad products (he is currently incorporating optical character recognition mediation and industry-leading fill rates. With into his dictionary apps), creating Android versions, and developing built into AdMob directly, more complex gaming apps. And because he can run a viable business developers can measure app performance from home, he is able to spend more time with his wife and baby son. and segment users to monetize intelligently. • For more information, go to: As he says, “AdMob has the highest fill rate and CPM compared to http://www.google.com/admob other ad platforms. I would encourage all developers to use AdMob in their free applications.”

ABOUT ADMOB MEDIATION

AdMob Mediation is a feature that lets you serve ads to your apps from multiple sources. This enables you to maximize your fill rate and increase your monetization by sending ad requests to multiple networks to ensure you find the best available network to serve ads. • For more information, go to: https://developers.google.com/mobile-ads- sdk/docs/admob/android/mediation

© 2014 Google Inc. All rights reserved. Google and the are trademarks of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.